A Winter Rose
by Flower-Vine67
Summary: She was different from all the rest, he could tell. All she had was belief in those that are said to just be fairy tales. Without that belief, she had nothing, and all he wanted was just to make her smile again. Jack FrostXOC JackXOC
1. Through the Glass

**Since I have a bad case of writers block for my other stories and I'm currently obsessed with Rise of the Guardians (seen it 3 times lol) and these stories seem to be pretty popular ^_^ I think it's time I jump into the current times lol. Don't worry, I will still be continuing my other stories. They are not forgotten.**

* * *

**_Chapter 1:  
Through the Glass_**

* * *

_"I'll always be here to protect you." She said, "Nothing will hurt you."_

_ "I love you, mommy." _

_ "I love you too, darling."_

_ She placed a small kiss on the child's forehead, and tucked her into bed._

_ "Sweet dreams, Rosie." _

* * *

Tired green eyes reflected back at me from the bus window. My favorite feature on me was my eyes. They were the color of spring leaves in the sunlight, so bright and shiny. My mother's eyes. Everybody says I look a lot like her, with my peach skin and dark brown hair. That was always the best compliment I received. I sighed, my breath fogging my reflection. I was almost home. No. Not home. Without her, that house was prison.

The winter air bit at my cheeks as I stepped off the bus. I welcomed the cold breeze with a smile and pulled my coat tighter around myself. Winter was always my favorite time of the year. Sure it was cold and sometimes icy, but when the moon shines onto the snow on a clear night, making the white blanket glitter and shine was just so beautiful. How could somebody not enjoy such a magical sight? Not paying attention, I slipped on a small patch of ice, nearly falling over onto the rough cement of the sidewalk. My heart almost stopped, but I caught my balance and moved, carefully, off of the clear ice. Sighing in relief, I continued walking to the place I called home.

I scowled at the white building in front of me. I would give anything to just turn around and walk the other direction, but I had nowhere to go and nobody to take me in. If I could move out, I would, but I was only seventeen and had just graduated from high school. As I walked in the door, He came stumbling into view.

"Where have you been?" He slurred.

"Out." I replied while kicking off my boots.

"Out where? Spending my money?"

I walked away from him, towards my room, but he stumbled after me.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" He yelled.

I ignored him and continued walking.

"Hey! Don't you walk away from me! You piece of trash! Worthless waste of space! You know that's all you are! Worthless!"

I slammed my door shut and locked it. Putting my back to it, I slid to the floor, tears streaming down my cheeks. I pulled my knees to my chest and silently sobbed, not giving him the satisfaction of knowing he had broken me once again. After mom died, my dad started drinking. Heavily. He never used to be like this, and that's what hurt me the most.

* * *

A pair of blue eyes watched from the other side of the window as she cried. Jack Frost would watch her every day as she came home from the graveyard, and every day, he would try to make that frown disappear from her face. Not even his special snowballs worked on her. That didn't stop him from trying though. He wanted to make her laugh and smile like she would two years ago.

Jack watched as she wiped the tears from her eyes and crawled into her bed. He sighed and jumped away from the window, letting the wind take him to another part of the town. Now that Jamie and the other kids had grown up, he was back to being invisible and alone. He still brought fun to the kids though, snow days and snowball fights. Just because he couldn't be seen, doesn't mean he would lie down and give up.

He stumbled across that girl when she was at a park. Something about her just caught his attention. It was the middle of winter and he was causing his normal mischief with frost and ice, when he saw her walking in the snow. He thought that he'd play some tricks on her; he made ice form under her feet to make her slip, but she would catch herself and laugh. Anybody else he tried that to would fall and grumble angrily to themselves about the ice.

Jack followed her to the local park. Everything was covered in a layer of snow, but that didn't stop her. The girl made snow sculptures of kids playing in the park and parents watching them from afar. She stayed for hours making those sculptures, and she had a smile on her face the entire time. When she left, Jack made a thin layer of ice to protect the artwork she had created. Something that had so much time and dedication put into it deserved to last longer than a day or two.

The girl had gone to two more parks after that, making different sculptures at each one. He watched her work the entire time, amazed at how well she could morph the snow. He followed her home, wanting to figure out the girl's name. Sadly though, he never found out. But he still followed her every day, whether she went to school, or just sat at home. No matter where she was, she would smile and laugh. But then, the laughing stopped. She never smiled anymore. The snow covered playgrounds didn't come to life with her snow sculptures. Instead, she went to the graveyard, every day, after school, than straight home.

He wanted her to be happy again, to make those sculptures, and laugh and smile. It was just so difficult to cheer up somebody who can't see him… somebody who didn't believe in him.

* * *

**Ok, so this was just me setting the scene for you guys. Next chapter will be better, I promise ^_^ reviews please? Continue or not? **


	2. The Long Way Home

**Ok here we are! Chapter 2. Hopefully this turns out better than chapter 1. It's a slow moving story I know, but this is all off the top of my head so I'm trying hard.**

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**_Chapter 2:  
The Long Way Home_**

* * *

_"It's time for sleep, little one."_

_"But I know I'll see the Tooth fairy this time, mommy!"_

_"Honey, she won't come if you're awake."_

_The little girl pouted as she held her flashlight. Her mother smiled and tucked her into bed, kissing her forehead._

_"Goodnight, Rosie." She said._

* * *

That man lay, passed out, on the living room floor. Nothing was new today. I quietly slipped on my boots and walked out the door. The sunlight reflected off the glittering snow that blanketed the ground. All around me were kids playing, making snowmen, forts, and having snowball fights. I missed the innocence of childhood. All the freedom I had, not worrying about anything except for homework. I may be a young adult, but I still held onto my childhood beliefs. Every Christmas I laid out a plate of cookies and milk for Santa Claus, awakening to find one small gift in their place. Every Easter I'd find painted eggs in the dried up flowerbed by my front door, and every night I wished for sweet dreams from the Sandman. I had no more baby teeth left to give to the tooth fairy, but I still believed she was there.

All of my childhood friends had grown up. They were more into boys, cars, make up, and slumber parties. When I refused to believe that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Sandman, and Tooth Fairy were just stories, they left me behind. I missed them greatly, but it was their choice to grow up and stop believing. I couldn't judge them for that.

As I walked past the children, a snowball struck the back of my head. I shook the snow out of my hair and turned towards them. They just stared at me, like they expected me to yell at them. I only smiled, a fake smile, and waved.

"Nice shot, kid." I said.

I didn't know which one threw it, but I wasn't going to be the one to ruin their fun. They all looked at each other and shrugged, getting back to their game. I continued walking.

* * *

I wasn't alone in the graveyard. There were other people who had lost dear family members. I passed by them, keeping my gaze forward. My destination was only a few steps away. I knelt down in front of the grey gravestone, not caring about the wet ground beneath me.

"I'm back." I said to the rock, "Just like I promised. Dad's getting worse. Every check we get from your life insurance goes to his drinking problem. I know it's not his fault, he just misses you so much and doesn't know how else to deal with it. He gets through his work day sober though, so I guess he's trying."

I sighed and put my hand on the cold stone.

"I miss you too, mom. I wish I could have helped you more."

I closed my eyes, remembering my mom's beautiful face. Her smile and her laugh. I always wanted to be just like her. When I had a nightmare, she would tell me stories to calm me down, and sing me to sleep. Some nights I would pretend to have a nightmare, just to hear her sing.

My fingers started to go numb from being on her gravestone. I tried to pull my hand off, but it was stuck. Frost had formed onto it, trapping my hand. I giggled at my stupidity.

"I guess Jack Frost wants to play tricks on me lately." I said.

I got my hand free from the frost, and warmed up my fingers.

"That's a story I haven't heard in a long time. The one about Jack Frost. How he fought the Bogey Man and saved the world from nightmares. Why did I ever forget about that story? It was always my favorite because of the adventure in it."

The winter cold started to affect me. I said my goodbyes to my mother's grave, and left the graveyard. Walking distance from here to my house was about two to three hours, depending on which way to you took. I didn't trust the streets at night, so I always took the local bus. It was already waiting there as I jogged up to the bus stop. Before the driver closed the door, I jumped in. I dug around in my pockets for some quarters, but they turned up empty. The driver shook his head at me.

"Please, my house is two hours away." I pleaded.

"Sorry kid. No bus fare, no ride." He said.

I sighed and stepped off the bus. The doors closed, and it left, leaving me on the side of the road. I looked at the setting sun; it's light disappearing, being replaced by the darkness of the new moon. Shoving my hands in my coat pockets, I started my long walk home.

* * *

People usually don't like to come out during winter nights, but some night owls didn't care about the cold. The drunks or gang members are usually the ones who are out and about at this time. I put my hood up as I saw a large group of people in front of me.

_Please leave me alone._ I thought.

Lucky for me, the group walked into the gas station they were standing outside of. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I turned down an alley way, a short cut that I discovered a few months ago. I had never gone through it before at night. It felt small and crowded. The only lights I had were small emergency lights that hung over fire escapes. A cold chill ran down my spice as a dark shadow passed the dim beams of light. I gulped and took a calming breath.

"It was just a stray animal." I said, "Nothing to worry about, Rose."

The shadow appeared across the light again, this time taking it out, along with some of the others. My heart pounded in my chest as, one by one, the lights went out. An evil cackle sounded all around me as the last emergency light went out, and I was surrounded by nothing but darkness.

I couldn't focus, it was hard to breathe, and my legs were locked into place. I stood stiff as a board as the cackle continued.

"Ohh, afraid of the dark are we?"

I started shaking.

"You poor thing, scared of such a simple thing."

The voice came closer, creeping up behind me. This time whispering in my ear.

"But what fun would life be without a little fear?"

A cold chill flew past my face. Not an evil chill, but one like the winter wind. It blew away the dark presence behind me and gave me strength to run away. And run I did. Adrenaline pushing me through the darkness and into the light filled streets. I ran the entire way home, never stopping to look back.

* * *

Jack held his staff against Pitch's neck, locking the Bogey Man against the brick wall. He laughed at the winter spirit.

"I thought you only protected children, Jack Frost." Pitch cackled.

"I thought you were buried away forever with your nightmares." Jack growled in response.

"Like I said twenty years ago, Jack. There will always be fear. And so long as that fear exists, I will never disappear."

Jack pushed his staff further into Pitch's neck, glaring at him.

"Why her?" He asked, "Out of all the people you could have gone after, why her?"

Pitch smirked.

"I could ask you the same question, Jack. Why her? Why protect a teenage girl instead of the children you love so dearly?"

The winter spirit stepped back from him, lowering his staff. He kept a wary gaze on the Bogey Man, wondering what he knew.

"You sense it too don't you?" He said, "There's not many like her in the world. The body of an adult, but the heart of a child. She still believes in the guardians. Well, almost, all of the guardians."

Jack shot a blast of frost at him, but Pitch disappeared in the shadows, his laugh echoing all around him. He kept a firm grip on his staff, looking every direction he could. The lights came back on, but Pitch was nowhere in sight. His dark presence had disappeared. Jack stood up straight, his staff hanging by his side. He had to warn the other guardians that Pitch was back, again. But first..

* * *

I paid no attention to my drunken father as I ran in the house. Slamming my door behind me, I finally took the time to catch my breath. My adrenaline rush had gone, leaving me tired, thirsty, and very weak. I took off my jacket, dropping it onto the floor. I turned on my bedside lamp, but didn't want to lie down on my bed. Instead, I sat in the corner of my room, my knees hugged to my chest. Nothing in that alley was real, there's no way. It was just my fear getting the better of me.

No matter how many times I said that to myself, I knew better. There was somebody in that alley with me, somebody who wanted to scare me, maybe even harm me, and that cool breeze…what had that been?

I heard my window creek open, l quickly looked up, expecting somebody to be there, but I saw nothing. I took a calming breath. It was just the wind. But something happened that I could not explain. A section of my window got frosted over and a message was written on it.

_'Don't be afraid of the dark.'_


	3. An Adventure Story

**__****Any of you guys ever see Titanic? Lol Rose and Jack XD I just made that connection. Anyways, thank you guys for all the love ^_^ I'm glad you're liking this story so far!  
Song I listened to while typing this: Ivan Torrent - Human Legacy (EPIC MUSIC) (Full Version)**

* * *

**_Chapter 3:  
An Adventure Story_**

* * *

"So, Pitch is back again hmm?"

North stroked his white beard as he stood in front of the fireplace. Jack, Tooth, Bunnymund, and the Sandman stood behind him.

"Didn't he learn his lesson last time?" Bunny said, "He can't beat us all."

"He's not as strong as he was last time. He doesn't have the black sand, just shadows." Jack said.

"Well no matter what, we can take him down. Kids don't believe in the Bogey Man anymore. It'll be a synch." Bunny said

The Sandman jingled in agreement. Jack scratched the back of his head.

"That's the thing though." He said, "he didn't go after a sleeping child."

The guardians looked at Jack with wide eyes.

"What do you mean, Jack?" Tooth asked.

"He went after a teenage girl while she was walking home."

They all gasped.

"A teenager?" North questioned, "But-

"That's ridiculous, mate!" Bunny exclaimed, "Teenagers don't believe in us."

"But she does." Jack explained, "Pitch said that there aren't many, but some teenagers still have the heart of a child. They believe in us…well…you guys."

Tooth put a reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder. He shook it off and walked towards the window. North stood in front of the globe, the yellow lights of children shining brightly upon it. He messed with a few buttons and knobs, glancing at the globe with each push or pull.

"Aha!" He exclaimed.

North pushed a bright blue button, all the lights on the globe shut off and came back on a split second later, this time showing twelve blue lights. A question mark appeared above Sandy's head.

"The blue lights are teenagers, Sandy." North explained, "I never kept that function on because they usually go out with time."

"If Pitch is going after them, we gotta do something." Tooth said.

"Hang on, I don't understand." Jack stated, "Why go after teenagers? What is Pitch gaining from that?"

North turned to him.

"They are exposed to more things than young children are. Have you ever seen a PG-13 movie? Some of those can be pretty scary! Therefore, they have more fears, stronger fears." He said, "Pitch can feed off of that fear and grow stronger."

Jack thought back to that girl, Rose she said her name was. She was so full of fear that she couldn't even move. He couldn't let that happen to her, or anyone else again.

"So what should we do?" He asked.

* * *

The morning sunlight had melted the frost off of my window, but the message was still clear as day in my head.

_Don't be afraid of the dark._

Who had written that? There was a park in the back of my mind, but I couldn't reach it to figure out what I knew, but couldn't remember. I shook my head and walked away from my window. Today my dad was at work. It was his payday, so that check was going towards booze. While he wasn't home, I took the time to clean up the house. We didn't have any dishes, so all I really had to do was take out the trash and clean the dirty surfaces, but even that could take most of the day. Occasionally I'd look out the window and watch the children play. They all looked so happy. I closed the blinds, finding myself missing my childhood once again.

It was dark by the time I had finished cleaning the house. By now, my dad had turned into that Man again and was bar hopping with his other drunken friends. He would be home soon, so I secluded myself in my bedroom again. I took a book from my nightstand and tried to read over the sounds of that Man and his drunken friends downstairs. There were many yells and crashes, so I gave up on my dream of peacefully finishing chapter one. I slammed the book closed and angrily sighed.

My window squeaked open again. I got off my bed and walked over to it. The frost had formed again, and another message was written.

_I'll protect you_

I glanced around my bedroom. I had to be dreaming. I wiped the message away and fogged the window with my breath.

_Who are you?_

My message cleared.

_A story_

"A story?" I whispered.

The message cleared itself this time. I fogged the window back up.

_What kind of story?_

I stepped back away from my window as a reply appeared below my question.

_An adventure story_

I looked to the picture of my mom on my windowsill. Remembering the bed time story she would tell me every night. The adventure story about Jack Frost.

That's when it all made sense! The constant patches of ice I'd slip on, the unexplained snowballs I'd get hit by, the cool breeze in the alley way, and now the messages on my window.

_Jack Frost? _I thought.

My vision blurred. I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"You look like a wet dog when you do that, Rose."

My eyes shot open. On my window sill sat a boy with white hair and…amazing blue eyes. My jaw dropped at the sight of him.

"No way…" I said.

I took a step forward and pointed at him.

"You…you're…" I stuttered.

He smiled at me and shook his head.

"Jack Frost…you're Jack Frost." I said.

"Well who'd you expect? Santa Claus?" He chuckled.

I took another step forward and poked his blue, frost covered, hoodie. He just sat there and watched me. He was cold, but a nice cold. After I got over the chock of him being in my room, I punched his arm as hard as I could, nearly making him fall out my window.

"Ouch! Hey, what was that for?!" He exclaimed, rubbing his arm.

"That's for all those ice patches you made me slip on!" I yelled, "And the snowballs that hit me in the face almost every day!"

"I had a reason." Jack said.

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot.

"I just wanted to make you smile again." He said.

My cheeks turned pink and I looked away from him.

"Oh…" I said, "Sorry about the punch than."

He stopped rubbing his arm and chuckled.

"No worries," He said, "I think you hit harder than the Tooth Fairy. You'd think that she wouldn't hit so hard since she only flies around all day."

I scratched the back of my head.

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

This time, Jack blushed and looked away from me.

"Well… it's a long story." He said.

"How long?"

"It starts when I first saw you two years ago."

I blushed again. I had always thought I felt eyes watching me, but I thought that I was just going crazy. I sat down on my floor and stared at him.

"I've got nothing but time, Jack Frost." I said, "Might as well get it all out."

The yelling downstairs had stopped. I looked to my door. That was very odd…it was only midnight. That Man and his friends usually didn't pass out until three. I looked back to Jack, he had a very serious look on his face, a glint of hatred in his eyes. He looked back to me.

"I'll tell you later, right now we have to go." He said.

I stood up.

"Go?" I asked, "Where?"

"Away from here." Jack answered.

He held his hand out to me.

"It's not safe."


End file.
